Windle Wealth LLC Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Windle Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,002 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,071 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 3.8% of Windle Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Windle Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,892,000 after buying an additional 48,294 shares in the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $3,376,000. Burney Co. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 6.4 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $183.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.89.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).